If you have an internet connection at all, you know that funny or LOL cats have taken over the internet. They are on YouTube defying physics, being very grumpy or surprised in memes and of course just being ridiculously kitty cute. But when did this happen, and how long is it gong to last? Well, let’s go back to the beginning- way back to the first LOL cat! Lolcat.com was the first domain registered in 2006. Strangely, this site did not gain viral fame until Icanhascheezburger.com put their first silly LOL cat meme up (2007) and thus began the quick and steady viral web take over. Soon terms like Caturday, Ceiling cat, Basement cat, Grumpy cat flooded the news feeds of millions of Face book and Twitter walls. Even my mom asked me what’s going on with all the cats. It is literally impossible to go to the top trending videos and memes and NOT find a plethora of funny or die feline.

When will it end? Well, the nature of a viral trend does have a very consistent algorithm. Like a true wave there is an initial spike (happened 2007) a steady wave upwards (2007-2009) and then things started to wind down towards the last quarter of 2012. We are 2013 now and I can assure you that despite the “LOLCAT” keyword still seeming incredibly searched, the grasp on the younger generation is not sticking and those who ate a digital buffet of LOL cats in 2007, are not as addicted today. Judging by Google trends, Twitter, YouTube and Alexa– I would predict a slow wind down of the LOL cat meme this year actually, with a fringe following staying faithful to the cats and especially to the most famous one now: Grumpy cat aka Tard. I see ageneral shift towards the more cartoon INSTAGRAM #CATWANG laser cat digital stickers and to see a lot more animal memes rise with lasers, kitschy rainbows, graphic lols like strips of bacon and sunglasses. Already there are other animal meme who has had less of web traffic boom, but a more even consitent flow of traffic that is likely to last longer. The Daily Otter, Daily bunny, Cute overload etc are other less popular memes that have a steady following, especially on picture blog sites like Tumblr.

This is what will most likely happen if a new LOL cat avastar is not born pronto. Grumpy cat, will not be able to distract the masses from their day jobs forever and the LOL cat traffic is on a rapid downward spiral so enjoy it now and happy CATURDAY!